A friend that usually likes to remain in a dark office and discrete to the public eye told me the other day that one of the greatest action movies of all time is the 1991 Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze gem, "Point Break."
Hey...any movie that comes in a "Pure Adrenaline Edition" is worth a shot, and Colin (that's my friend) is a smart individual (especially for choosing me as a friend).
I figured it was destiny because after wrapping up Bruce Almighty...what's next on HBO? POINT BREAK. Merely days after the conversation about it...
All I know about this movie going into it is that there are explosions, bank robbers, Swayze, Reeves and beach. It also has to do with the FBI.
Ok, popcorn is ready.
Start of movie.
The waves off the top...remind me of Baywatch. Now all it needs is Pamela Anderson running on the beach, then inevitably David Hasselhoff will show up.
A mix of identities...Keanu reeves shooting high powered guns at targets as the scene cuts back to the ocean and surfers shredding. Loud noises always effective. It was a shooting test. Reeves passed. They call him Johnny Utah. He's a special agent for the FBI.
Utah's boss is the dude from scrubs...John McGinley. He's a bit of a tough guy but Utah doesn't seem worried.
Gary Busey (Pappas) is also in this movie. (He seems like the yoda to Utah...remember...Utah is Reeves).
Bank robbery. A bunch of bank robbers dressed with the faces of ex-presidents. Interestingly enough, they call themselves the "ex-presidents." Polite and forceful they are in and out of the bank in 90 seconds. 27 banks in three years.
Intimate yelling match between Utah and Pappas. Much like a mean athletic coach, but of course there's a message behind it. Utah refocuses Pappas who was acting old and burnt out of the crime game.
Pappas explains that the "ex-presidents" are surfers based on tan lines from security footage at the bank robbery. That's a new one, but not a lot of robbers moon the camera.
Utah has to learn how to surf to get in with the "ex-presidents." As someone that has tried to surf, it's not the easiest hobby to pick up right away. Utah wipes out, almost drowns but a surfer chick saves him. Easy plot line for the beginning of a love interest. She acts like she doesn't like him, and he spies on her with binoculars as she changes out of her suit (TOWEL TRICK) in public. He finds out where she works and then demands she teaches him how to surf.
I don't think it usually works in a guys favor to creep out and get a girls information just to randomly show up, and fabricate a story to get her to like him, but hey...maybe lies off a top are a good foundation to start with. Oh, her name is Tyler.
Of course, Utah learns how to surf the first day out. Amazing how quickly that worked. There's a lot of water splashing between the two. I'm pretty sure they're crushing on each other.
Before you know it, there's a pickup football game on the beach. Patrick Swayze has been introduced as the "Searcher." He goes by Bohdi.
Utah was a standout college quarterback. The surfers know that, but at least they don't know he's with the FBI. Now I know why Reeves did so well in "The Replacements."
Utah gets in the wrong waters. The locals get mad he's surfing in there and start fighting him. Bohdi shows up out of nowhere to save Utah from the beat down. Amazing how the timing and location always work out in the favor of the main characters but a pretty good fight scene overall.
After a party...Bohdi says "Stealth Mission." Night surfing...a challenge for a seasoned surfer, impossible for a new surfer who can't even surf during the day.
Quote of the movie so far, "I'm F#$#@#& surfing!"-Utah
He rode a wave, and I think he's becoming more accepted by the group. Then Utah and Tyler spend the night on the beach and he's extremely late for his own raid of a house the next day. Play over work? that's not going to make your bosses happy.
There was just a crazy gun fight. I couldn't type during it. Too much going on. It included the tough guys at the beach vs FBI. Lots of great action, even actually included a naked woman fighting the guys off, and stabbing one of the agents repeatedly in the back. Then Utah almost gets his face pushed into a lawn mower that's of course in the right place at the right time, but Pappas shoots it...and that turns it off. Again...amazing. Turns out the raid targets were already being monitored for drug activity. Well that just stinks doesn't it.
Then that's followed up by an epic car chase! The "ex-presidents" rob a bank but Utah and Pappas are right on their tail the entire time. Racing through the streets, before crashing. Pappas and Utah catch up as one of the ex-presidents is trying to torch the getaway car. That then turns into a foot chase that ends when Utah jumps and lands awkwardly on his knee. The same knee he blew out in college playing football. The suspect gets away. Pappas thinks Utah is getting too close to the surfer group. This is all a possibility but who's to say that's the case right now.
Now it comes out that Bohdi and his friends are the bank robbers. Bohdi isn't worried but they know that Utah is an FBI agent. They keep saying the human spirit is still alive and Bohdi is trying to keep his guys together, preventing them from falling apart. I don't think that they would be so calm knowing that an FBI agent is on to them but at the same time, they were wearing masks and maybe Utah doesn't know it was their group of surfers robbing banks.
Bohdi continues to play it cool, picks up Utah, and they head...into the air. This movie is all over the place and is hard to keep up with but at least its filled with action.
Then they skydive. This I can speak to. It is a total rush and a ton of fun. Going 120 mph straight down is a bit of a rush in slow motion, but the free fall is only for a minute from 14,000 feet(ish) and these guys were free falling for about 5 minutes in the movie. Johnny Utah is a pro a maneuvering himself, hard to believe someone could be thrown into this act and do so well.
Ahhh the ransom video of sorts. Bohdi shows Tyler kidnapped and in danger to Utah. Now Utah is forced to work with Bohdi and rob a bank with them. This is an incredibly tough spot for an FBI agent to be in. He's outed, and he has to help them rob a bank because someone he cares about is in danger.
Bodhi gets greedy and decides to hit the vault. That's never the go to move. it ends up a massive failure. 3 people die, and Utah ends up in cuffs. Bohdi is at the airport ready to leave with the money but Utah needs to know where Tyler is before the guy holding her hostage kills her.
There's another shootout on the tarmac. Pappas is killed along with another one of the ex-presidents. Johnny Utah is off the ground with Bohdi. Utah is too quiet right now, just watching their moves.
Alright things just got real. Utah jumped out of the plane without a parachute, around 10 seconds after Bohdi jumped out. He catches up to him midair, grabs on and they pull the chute with about 5 seconds to earth impact. Hard landing but crazily they survive and walk away from it.
Tyler is released, runs to Johnny. They're together safe then the movie cuts to Australia. Bohdi had mentioned a 50 year storm and wanting to surf it. Utah confronts Bohdi. Then they wrestle on the beach. then Bohdi talks Utah into riding the big wave. He presumably dies from wiping out, while Utah walks away and so cooly keanu reeves like throws his badge into the water.
End Movie.
Summing it all up in few words. The action was incredible. I give it 9/10 on a "Hang 10" scale. The only subtraction is for the corniness of subject matter/jokes at times. All in all, Utah and Bohdi had a mutual respect for each other, and in any other situation FBI/Bank Robber, they would have been the best of friends. Bohdi lived his life to ride that wave, he got to...Utah wanted to catch him. He did, and was at peace with the ending.
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